Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Being in a Hurry is a Waste of Time

"A well-known pastor, he was once asked what was his most profound regret in life?'Being in a hurry.' That is what he said.'Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.' "

When I think back to my older children's childhood years, I think of all the swirling and spinning and fast-forward motion I did.

It isn't regret I feel. I know the past cannot be changed and life is what it is and I still catch myself weekly in a tailspin between rewind and fast-forward. So I don't do regret because it's as much a waste of time as hurrying.

The difference and the agreement I find today in the words above is that I am now aware of the bustle and I attempt to slow down. Crazy thing is, most often than not, my mode of hurrying is an attempt to slow down. Really!Let me explain. If I have a task, a job, a commitment that must be done; I will hurry through it in order that I might get home to my children, my chickens, and my chair. My children have called me sporadic. I walk fast. I decide fast. I motion fast. I don't have time for slow. Which is sad in some ways, not in others.And yet...people have no idea how lazy I can be.I like slow. I learned a long time ago that slow is better. I like to sit and ponder. I like to snuggle the grandbaby. I like to drink endless cups of coffee with my parents. I like to sit in the church office and ponder faith and religion. I like to just be. And yet...life doesn't often let you just be.Life moves quickly. We all know that.And so I hurry in order to catch up with life. It's a wonder really and perhaps it doesn't make much sense but I hurry in order to obtain the slow. Once the task is done, the job is completed, the commitment is made; I go back to my syrupy slow pace where I am at peace.It's a give and a take.All of life is.The worse thing to do is to regret the hurried or the slow. To regret your life is to not have lived it fully.

Life, like heartbeats, is good; but the pauses, like sleeping breaths, matter too.﻿